From: lilmsmissy@juno.com
Sent: Friday, March 23, 2001 10:09 PM
To: fdadockets@oc.fda.gov
Subject: Docket 00N-1396 & Docket 00D-1598
Dear FDA Commissioner,
The proposed Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulations fail to
require labels or safety tests on genetically engineered (GE) food. The
new rules continue to deny Americans the right to know what is in our
food, while protecting the economic interests of biotech corporations.
Labeling GE foods would protect the public from potential hazardous
health effects such as food allergies and toxicity that can only be
traced
if GE foods can be identified. By refusing to require both labeling and
mandatory pre-market safety testing of foods, the FDA puts consumer's
health at risk, ignores possible environmental hazards, and fails to
satisfy
the overwhelming desire of American consumers to exercise freedom
of choice in the marketplace.
It is not enough to require that firms simply notify you of their intent
to
market a food produced with genetic engineering; this is no substitute
for
thorough pre-market safety testing. The proposed "voluntary labeling"
guidelines will do nothing to inform consumers of the presence of
genetically
engineered ingredients in their food, because biotech companies and food
manufacturers have vehemently opposed labeling in the past and will not
voluntarily label their foods in the future.
Therefore, I urge you to keep all genetically engineered ingredients and
crops off the market unless or until:
1) Independent safety testing demonstrates they have no harmful effects
on human health or the environment;
2) They are labeled to ensure consumers¹ right-to-know; and
3) The biotechnology corporations that produce them are held responsible
for any harms they may cause.
Sincerely,